Currently, the method for determining the size of an in-memory heap-based (area of memory reserved for data created at runtime) object cache (high-speed storage mechanism) is a difficult and expensive processes. The primary method for this process is known in the art as “serialization.” Serialization is a process that saves an object onto a storage medium (such as a file or memory buffer) or transmits the object across a network connection link in binary form. To serialize a cache, one must serialize all the objects in a cache. This is an expensive, extensive, and processor intensive practice. Thus, a need exists for an accurate method to estimate the size of a cache that does not require serialization of every object within the cache.